


Tell Me Lies

by Brumeier



Series: Gay Paree, 1920s [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1920s, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Lies, M/M, Post-World War I, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25078012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic prompt for 100 Words on the 1920s prompt:any, any, “I want you to lie to me just as sweetly as you know how for the rest of my life.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby Girls)In which loving the one you're with doesn't always mean you forget the ones you lost, as Steve and Tony know well enough.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Gay Paree, 1920s [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816114
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	Tell Me Lies

Steve stood out on the balcony wearing only his trousers and nothing else. Despite the late hour, the lights of Paris still sparkled, and he could hear music being played and the faint tinkles of distant laughter. Overhead, the moon was only half-formed, and no match for the vibrancy below.

It was strange, the turn his life had taken after the war. He’d been inches away from chasing his pain to the bottom of a bottle, wanting to numb his memories and feelings. And maybe worse. And then Tony Stark had blundered into his life, Steve still wasn’t quite sure how, and suddenly he found himself living in Hollywood and working behind the camera on Tony’s pictures.

It wasn’t the life he’d imagined for himself, but he was thankful for it just the same.

Steve reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick piece of art paper. It had been folded into fourths, and he opened it up, trying to smooth it out without smudging the pencil marks.

He’d met a fellow artist on the Porte des Étoiles that morning, and they’d playfully done sketches of each other. Steve had captured Evan’s bright smile, his dimples, his inner sparkle. But the picture in his hands, the one Evan had drawn of him, was a man full of sadness. It was as if Evan had stripped Steve’s flesh away and saw what he was hiding underneath.

Steve almost tore it up. He wanted to. Instead, he carefully refolded it and put it back in his pocket.

“You okay?”

Tony came out on the balcony, shamelessly naked beneath the blanket he had loosely draped over his shoulders.

“It’s really beautiful here,” Steve said. “I’m glad we came.”

He didn’t answer Tony’s question, and Tony didn’t call him on it. He knew well enough how not okay Steve was, and vice versa. It wasn’t something they ever talked about. Lies of omission.

Tony hugged him from behind, after first covering them both with the blanket. Steve appreciated the warmth, and the physical strength Tony offered. He couldn’t ask for more than that and knew Tony didn’t have more to give in any case.

They both knew the score.

“Where should we go next?” Tony murmured in Steve’s ear. “Anywhere in the world. You pick.”

“Norway,” Steve said, the first country that popped into his head. _Argonne_ , he’d wanted to say. The forest where he’d lost everything. 

“Great. We’ll eat herring and buy sweaters, and whatever else they do there.”

No-one could muster false enthusiasm like Tony, but he always tried so hard to please Steve, to make him happy. As if his own worth depended on it. Knowing his father, maybe it did.

“Vikings?” Steve wondered aloud. “Are they from Norway?”

“We’ll find out. I’ll have Pepper make arrangements tomorrow.” Tony gave him a gentle tug. “Come back to bed.”

Steve let himself be pulled inside, let Tony lie to him even as he lied himself.

“It’ll be okay.”

“I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** Yes, more angst for poor Tony. And plenty for Steve as well. They're both still haunted by the war, just in different ways. More members of the Lost Generation trying to find their way.


End file.
